Poll: Tax hike before Medicare cuts

Most Americans oppose the big spending cuts that many in Washington see as necessary to bring down the budget deficit, a new poll suggests, but they do support one idea for deficit reduction that President Barack Obama has pushed for years — raising taxes on the rich.

Only small slivers of the group of Americans surveyed for a Washington Post/ABC News poll released Wednesday said they support cuts to Medicare and Medicaid — 21 percent and 30 percent, respectively — and cuts to defense spending get the support of 42 percent of those surveyed. Seventy-eight percent of Americans are opposed to Medicare cuts, while 69 percent are opposed to Medicaid cuts.

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The potential solution to the debt crisis that gets the strongest support is raising taxes on Americans who make $250,000 or more annually, an idea that Obama campaigned on in 2008, backed away from last year to make a legislative deal with Republicans but has returned to as he’s begun discussing his vision for long-term fiscal responsibility. Of those surveyed, 72 percent said they support tax increases on people with incomes of more than $250,000, including 54 percent who strongly support them. Twenty-seven percent are opposed, including 17 percent strongly.

Another potential remedy to the debt crisis gets less support — 45 percent of those surveyed said they support raising taxes on all Americans by a small percentage while making small cuts to Medicare and Social Security. Fifty-three percent of Americans are opposed to such a plan, including 40 percent who say they are strongly opposed.

One more idea that doesn’t get much support is House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan’s proposal to transform Medicare into a modified voucher program, with 65 percent of those surveyed opposed and 34 percent supporting it.

Asked whom they trust more to handle the debt, 46 percent of those surveyed pointed to congressional Republicans, while 42 percent said they trusted Obama more on the issue. Nine percent say they trust neither. Both sides have suggested entitlement cuts of varying measures, but only Obama is pushing the notion of tax hikes.

At the same time, nearly half of all Americans — 48 percent — said they think Obama isn’t doing enough to try to compromise with congressional Republicans, while 12 percent say he is doing too much and 38 percent said he is doing about the right amount of compromising.

The poll was conducted April 14-17 and surveyed 1,001 adults. The error margin is plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.